Client Onboarding and Engagement Terms
The four annexures that turn an engagement letter into a working arrangement for accounting, tax, GST, ROC and payroll work: who does what and by when, what the fee covers and what it does not, how the fee is billed and collected, and the documents the client hands over at the start. For CA and CS firms taking on a new retainer client.
- 51 pages
- 545
- Word and PDF
- 30 October 2026
- 30 October 2026
The 4 formats inside
- 1Responsibility matrix between the client and the firmAnnexure to the engagement letter · Companies Act 2013, s.128 and s.144 · CGST Act 2017, s.48(3) · Income-tax Act 2025 · Code on Wages 2019On its own₹149
- 2Scope, assumptions and exclusions schedule to the engagement letterSchedule to the engagement letter · ICAI Code of Ethics · Companies Act 2013, s.144 · Indian Contract Act 1872, s.62On its own₹149
- 3Fee schedule and billing termsSchedule to the engagement letter · CA Act 1949, First Schedule, Part I, cl.(10) · Regulation 192 · IGST Act 2017, s.2(6) · MSMED Act 2006, s.15 and s.16On its own₹149
- 4Master document request list for a new clientIssued with the engagement letter · tracker kept on the permanent fileOn its own₹149
Not included
What you will still need outside this pack:
- The engagement letter itself: use the accounting, GST, income-tax or secretarial engagement letter already in the catalogue and annex these schedules to it.
- Client acceptance, know-your-client and conflict check records, which are separate formats.
- The portal access arrangement and the records-sharing consent, which are separate formats.
- Engagement letters for representation, audit and certification work, which are engaged separately.
- For a firm of company secretaries, the Company Secretaries Act 1980 and ICSI provisions on fees, which replace the ICAI references in the fee schedule.
- Stamp duty on the signed engagement letter and schedules, where the State's Stamp Act treats them as an agreement.
Read the opening
The first part of “Responsibility matrix between the client and the firm”, as it downloads. Blanks are highlighted.
On the letterhead of [Name of the firm]
RESPONSIBILITY MATRIX (RACI) BETWEEN THE CLIENT AND THE FIRM
Annexure [Annexure number of the responsibility matrix] to the engagement letter dated [Date of the engagement letter]
Client: [Name of the client] · PAN: [PAN of the client] · GSTIN(s) covered: [GSTINs covered by the engagement]
Engagement partner: [Name of the engagement partner] · Client coordinator: [Name and designation of the client coordinator]
Matrix effective from: [Effective date of the matrix] · Version: [Version number] · Last reviewed on: [Date of last review]
Use this matrix with the Scope, assumptions and exclusions schedule and the Fee schedule and billing terms in this pack. It completes the annexure called for at the end of the Engagement letter, accounting and bookkeeping (FV06-B2), and can be annexed equally to the Letter of engagement, GST monthly compliance (FV05-K1), the Engagement letter, preparation and filing of returns of income (FV04-L9) or the Engagement letter, retainer secretarial services (FV01-B7). Delete the Parts for engagements you have not been given. Keep the statutory dates; change only the internal dates.